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Pires IS, Covarrubias G, Gomerdinger VF, Backlund C, Shanker A, Gordon E, Wu S, Pickering AJ, Melo MB, Suh H, Irvine DJ, Hammond PT. "Target-and-release" nanoparticles for effective immunotherapy of metastatic ovarian cancer. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.07.05.602135. [PMID: 39005274 PMCID: PMC11245112 DOI: 10.1101/2024.07.05.602135] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/16/2024]
Abstract
Immunotherapies such as checkpoint inhibitors (CPI) are effective in treating several advanced cancers, but these treatments have had limited success in metastatic ovarian cancer (OC). Here, we engineered liposomal nanoparticles (NPs) carrying a layer-by-layer (LbL) polymer coating that promotes their binding to the surface of OC cells. Covalent anchoring of the potent immunostimulatory cytokine interleukin-12 (IL-12) to phospholipid headgroups of the liposome core enabled the LbL particles to concentrate IL-12 in disseminated OC tumors following intraperitoneal administration. Shedding of the LbL coating and serum protein-mediated extraction of IL-12-conjugated lipids from the liposomal core over time enabled IL-12 to disseminate in the tumor bed following rapid NP localization in tumor nodules. Optimized IL-12 LbL-NPs promoted robust T cell accumulation in ascites and tumors in mouse models, extending survival compared to free IL-12 and remarkedly sensitizing tumors to CPI, leading to curative treatments and immune memory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ivan S Pires
- Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
- Department of Chemical Engineering, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - Gil Covarrubias
- Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - Victoria F Gomerdinger
- Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
- Department of Chemical Engineering, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - Coralie Backlund
- Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - Apoorv Shanker
- Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - Ezra Gordon
- Department of Chemical Engineering, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - Shengwei Wu
- Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - Andrew J Pickering
- Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
- Department of Chemical Engineering, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - Mariane B Melo
- Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - Heikyung Suh
- Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - Darrell J Irvine
- Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
- Department of Biological Engineering, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
- Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Chevy Chase, MD 20815, USA
| | - Paula T Hammond
- Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
- Department of Chemical Engineering, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
- Broad Institute of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, 02139 USA
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2
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Grundy EE, Shaw LC, Wang L, Powell DJ, Ostrowski M, Jones RB, Cruz CRY, Gordish-Dressman H, Bollard CM, Chiappinelli KB. Limited Immunogenicity of an HLA-A*03:01-restricted Epitope of Erv-k-env in Non-hiv-1 Settings: Implications for Adoptive Cell Therapy in Cancer. RESEARCH SQUARE 2024:rs.3.rs-4432372. [PMID: 38854052 PMCID: PMC11160923 DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4432372/v1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/11/2024]
Abstract
Repetitive elements (REs) are often expressed at higher levels in tumor cells than normal cells, implicating these genomic regions as an untapped pool of tumor-associated antigens. In ovarian cancer (OC), protein from the RE ERV-K is frequently expressed by tumor cells. Here we determined whether the targeting of a previously identified immunogenic epitope in the envelope gene (env) of ERV-K resulted in target antigen specificity in non-HIV-1 settings. We found that transducing healthy donor T cells with an ERV-K-Env-specific T cell receptor construct resulted in antigen specificity only when co-cultured with HLA-A*03:01 B lymphoblastoid cells. Furthermore, these transduced T cells were not specific for HLA-A*03:01 + OC cells nor for the cognate peptide in HLA-matched systems from multiple healthy donors. These data suggest that the ERV-K-Env epitope recognized by this T cell receptor is of low immunogenicity and has limited potential as a T cell target for OC.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | - R Brad Jones
- Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Medical Sciences
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3
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Santoro A, Angelico G, Inzani F, Arciuolo D, d'Amati A, Addante F, Travaglino A, Scaglione G, D'Alessandris N, Valente M, Tinnirello G, Raffone A, Narducci N, Piermattei A, Cianfrini F, Bragantini E, Zannoni GF. The emerging and challenging role of PD-L1 in patients with gynecological cancers: An updating review with clinico-pathological considerations. Gynecol Oncol 2024; 184:57-66. [PMID: 38295614 DOI: 10.1016/j.ygyno.2024.01.032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2023] [Revised: 01/06/2024] [Accepted: 01/21/2024] [Indexed: 02/02/2024]
Abstract
Over recent years, there has been significant progress in the development of immunotherapeutic molecules designed to block the PD-1/PD-L1 axis. These molecules have demonstrated their ability to enhance the immune response by prompting T cells to identify and suppress neoplastic cells. PD-L1 is a type 1 transmembrane protein ligand expressed on T lymphocytes, B lymphocytes, and antigen-presenting cells and is considered a key inhibitory checkpoint involved in cancer immune regulation. PD-L1 immunohistochemical expression in gynecological malignancies is extremely variable based on tumor stage and molecular subtypes. As a result, a class of monoclonal antibodies targeting the PD-1 receptor and PD-L1, known as immune checkpoint inhibitors, has found successful application in clinical settings. In clinical practice, the standard method for identifying suitable candidates for immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy involves immunohistochemical assessment of PD-L1 expression in neoplastic tissues. The most commonly used PD-L1 assays in clinical trials are SP142, 28-8, 22C3, and SP263, each of which has been rigorously validated on specific platforms. Gynecologic cancers encompass a wide spectrum of malignancies originating from the ovaries, uterus, cervix, and vulva. These neoplasms have shown variable response to immunotherapy which appears to be influenced by genetic and protein expression profiles, including factors such as mismatch repair status, tumor mutational burden, and checkpoint ligand expression. In the present paper, an extensive review of PD-L1 expression in various gynecologic cancer types is discussed, providing a guide for their pathological assessment and reporting.
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Affiliation(s)
- Angela Santoro
- Unità Operativa Complessa Anatomia Patologica Generale, Dipartimento di scienze della salute della donna, del bambino e di sanità pubblica, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Largo A. Gemelli 8, 00168 Roma, Italy; Istituto di Anatomia Patologica, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Largo A. Gemelli 8, 00168 Roma, Italy
| | - Giuseppe Angelico
- Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences and Advanced Technologies "G.F. Ingrassia", Anatomic Pathology, University of Catania, Catania, Italy
| | - Frediano Inzani
- Anatomic Pathology Unit, Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Pavia and Fondazione IRCCS San Matteo Hospital, 27100 Pavia, Italy
| | - Damiano Arciuolo
- Unità Operativa Complessa Anatomia Patologica Generale, Dipartimento di scienze della salute della donna, del bambino e di sanità pubblica, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Largo A. Gemelli 8, 00168 Roma, Italy
| | - Antonio d'Amati
- Unità Operativa Complessa Anatomia Patologica Generale, Dipartimento di scienze della salute della donna, del bambino e di sanità pubblica, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Largo A. Gemelli 8, 00168 Roma, Italy
| | - Francesca Addante
- Unità Operativa Complessa Anatomia Patologica Generale, Dipartimento di scienze della salute della donna, del bambino e di sanità pubblica, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Largo A. Gemelli 8, 00168 Roma, Italy
| | - Antonio Travaglino
- Pathology Unit, Department of Medicine and Technological Innovation, University of Insubria, Varese, Italy
| | - Giulia Scaglione
- Unità Operativa Complessa Anatomia Patologica Generale, Dipartimento di scienze della salute della donna, del bambino e di sanità pubblica, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Largo A. Gemelli 8, 00168 Roma, Italy
| | - Nicoletta D'Alessandris
- Unità Operativa Complessa Anatomia Patologica Generale, Dipartimento di scienze della salute della donna, del bambino e di sanità pubblica, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Largo A. Gemelli 8, 00168 Roma, Italy
| | - Michele Valente
- Unità Operativa Complessa Anatomia Patologica Generale, Dipartimento di scienze della salute della donna, del bambino e di sanità pubblica, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Largo A. Gemelli 8, 00168 Roma, Italy
| | - Giordana Tinnirello
- Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences and Advanced Technologies "G.F. Ingrassia", Anatomic Pathology, University of Catania, Catania, Italy
| | - Antonio Raffone
- Gynecology and Obstetrics Unit, Department of Neuroscience, Reproductive Sciences and Dentistry, School of Medicine, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy
| | - Nadine Narducci
- Department of Medicine (DIMED), University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Alessia Piermattei
- Unità Operativa Complessa Anatomia Patologica Generale, Dipartimento di scienze della salute della donna, del bambino e di sanità pubblica, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Largo A. Gemelli 8, 00168 Roma, Italy
| | - Federica Cianfrini
- Unità Operativa Complessa Anatomia Patologica Generale, Dipartimento di scienze della salute della donna, del bambino e di sanità pubblica, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Largo A. Gemelli 8, 00168 Roma, Italy
| | - Emma Bragantini
- Department of Pathology, Santa Chiara Hospital, Trento, Italy
| | - Gian Franco Zannoni
- Unità Operativa Complessa Anatomia Patologica Generale, Dipartimento di scienze della salute della donna, del bambino e di sanità pubblica, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Largo A. Gemelli 8, 00168 Roma, Italy; Istituto di Anatomia Patologica, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Largo A. Gemelli 8, 00168 Roma, Italy.
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4
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Cai X, Lin J, Liu L, Zheng J, Liu Q, Ji L, Sun Y. A novel TCGA-validated programmed cell-death-related signature of ovarian cancer. BMC Cancer 2024; 24:515. [PMID: 38654239 DOI: 10.1186/s12885-024-12245-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2023] [Accepted: 04/10/2024] [Indexed: 04/25/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Ovarian cancer (OC) is a gynecological malignancy tumor with high recurrence and mortality rates. Programmed cell death (PCD) is an essential regulator in cancer metabolism, whose functions are still unknown in OC. Therefore, it is vital to determine the prognostic value and therapy response of PCD-related genes in OC. METHODS By mining The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx) and Genecards databases, we constructed a prognostic PCD-related genes model and performed Kaplan-Meier (K-M) analysis and Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve for its predictive ability. A nomogram was created via Cox regression. We validated our model in train and test sets. Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) was applied to identify the expression of our model genes. Finally, we analyzed functional analysis, immune infiltration, genomic mutation, tumor mutational burden (TMB) and drug sensitivity of patients in low- and high-risk group based on median scores. RESULTS A ten-PCD-related gene signature including protein phosphatase 1 regulatory subunit 15 A (PPP1R15A), 8-oxoguanine-DNA glycosylase (OGG1), HECT and RLD domain containing E3 ubiquitin protein ligase family member 1 (HERC1), Caspase-2.(CASP2), Caspase activity and apoptosis inhibitor 1(CAAP1), RB transcriptional corepressor 1(RB1), Z-DNA binding protein 1 (ZBP1), CD3-epsilon (CD3E), Clathrin heavy chain like 1(CLTCL1), and CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein beta (CEBPB) was constructed. Risk score performed well with good area under curve (AUC) (AUC3 - year =0.728, AUC5 - year = 0.730). The nomogram based on risk score has good performance in predicting the prognosis of OC patients (AUC1 - year =0.781, AUC3 - year =0.759, AUC5 - year = 0.670). Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) analysis showed that the erythroblastic leukemia viral oncogene homolog (ERBB) signaling pathway and focal adhesion were enriched in the high-risk group. Meanwhile, patients with high-risk scores had worse OS. In addition, patients with low-risk scores had higher immune-infiltrating cells and enhanced expression of checkpoints, programmed cell death 1 ligand 1 (PD-L1), indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase 1 (IDO-1) and lymphocyte activation gene-3 (LAG3), and were more sensitive to A.443,654, GDC.0449, paclitaxel, gefitinib and cisplatin. Finally, qRT-PCR confirmed RB1, CAAP1, ZBP1, CEBPB and CLTCL1 over-expressed, while PPP1R15A, OGG1, CASP2, CD3E and HERC1 under-expressed in OC cell lines. CONCLUSION Our model could precisely predict the prognosis, immune status and drug sensitivity of OC patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xintong Cai
- Department of Gynecology, Clinical Oncology School of Fujian Medical University, Fujian Cancer Hospital, Fuzhou, Fujian Province, China
| | - Jie Lin
- Department of Gynecology, Clinical Oncology School of Fujian Medical University, Fujian Cancer Hospital, Fuzhou, Fujian Province, China
| | - Li Liu
- Department of Gynecology, Clinical Oncology School of Fujian Medical University, Fujian Cancer Hospital, Fuzhou, Fujian Province, China
| | - Jianfeng Zheng
- Department of Gynecology, Clinical Oncology School of Fujian Medical University, Fujian Cancer Hospital, Fuzhou, Fujian Province, China
| | - Qinying Liu
- Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Tumor Biotherapy, Clinical Oncology School of Fujian Medical University, Fujian Cancer Hospital, Fuzhou, Fujian Province, China
| | - Liyan Ji
- Geneplus-Beijing Institute, Beijing, China
| | - Yang Sun
- Department of Gynecology, Clinical Oncology School of Fujian Medical University, Fujian Cancer Hospital, Fuzhou, Fujian Province, China.
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5
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Wilkinson AN, Chen R, Coleborn E, Neilson T, Le K, Bhavsar C, Wang Y, Atluri S, Irgam G, Wong K, Yang D, Steptoe R, Wu SY. Let-7i enhances anti-tumour immunity and suppresses ovarian tumour growth. Cancer Immunol Immunother 2024; 73:80. [PMID: 38554167 PMCID: PMC10981620 DOI: 10.1007/s00262-024-03674-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2024] [Accepted: 03/08/2024] [Indexed: 04/01/2024]
Abstract
Cancer immunotherapy has seen significant success in the last decade for cancer management by enhancing endogenous cancer immunity. However, immunotherapies developed thus far have seen limited success in the majority of high-grade serous carcinoma (HGSC) ovarian cancer patients. This is largely due to the highly immunosuppressive tumour microenvironment of HGSC and late-stage identification. Thus, novel treatment interventions are needed to overcome this immunosuppression and complement existing immunotherapies. Here, we have identified through analysis of > 600 human HGSC tumours a critical role for Let-7i in modulating the tumoural immune network. Tumoural expression of Let-7i had high positive correlation with anti-cancer immune signatures in HGSC patients. Confirming this role, enforced Let-7i expression in murine HGSC tumours resulted in a significant decrease in tumour burden with a significant increase in tumour T cell numbers in tumours. In concert with the improved tumoural immunity, Let-7i treatment also significantly increased CD86 expression in antigen presenting cells (APCs) in the draining lymph nodes, indicating enhanced APC activity. Collectively, our findings highlight an important role of Let-7i in anti-tumour immunity and its potential use for inducing an anti-tumour effect in HGSC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew N Wilkinson
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia
| | - Rui Chen
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia
| | - Elaina Coleborn
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia
| | - Trent Neilson
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia
| | - Khang Le
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia
| | - Chintan Bhavsar
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia
| | - Yue Wang
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, 15261, USA
| | - Sharat Atluri
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia
| | - Gowri Irgam
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia
| | - Kiefer Wong
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia
| | - Da Yang
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, 15261, USA
| | - Raymond Steptoe
- Frazer Institute, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, 4102, Australia
| | - Sherry Y Wu
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia.
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6
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Kumar S, Acharya S, Karthikeyan M, Biswas P, Kumari S. Limitations and potential of immunotherapy in ovarian cancer. Front Immunol 2024; 14:1292166. [PMID: 38264664 PMCID: PMC10803592 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1292166] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2023] [Accepted: 12/15/2023] [Indexed: 01/25/2024] Open
Abstract
Ovarian cancer (OC) is the third most common gynecological cancer and alone has an emergence rate of approximately 308,069 cases worldwide (2020) with dire survival rates. To put it into perspective, the mortality rate of OC is three times higher than that of breast cancer and it is predicted to only increase significantly by 2040. The primary reasons for such a high rate are that the physical symptoms of OC are detectable only during the advanced phase of the disease when resistance to chemotherapies is high and around 80% of the patients that do indeed respond to chemotherapy initially, show a poor prognosis subsequently. This highlights a pressing need to develop new and effective therapies to tackle advanced OC to improve prognosis and patient survival. A major advance in this direction is the emergence of combination immunotherapeutic methods to boost CD8+ T cell function to tackle OC. In this perspective, we discuss our view of the current state of some of the combination immunotherapies in the treatment of advanced OC, their limitations, and potential approaches toward a safer and more effective response.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | - Sudha Kumari
- Department of Microbiology and Cell Biology, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India
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Gómez-Valenzuela F, Wichmann I, Suárez F, Kato S, Ossandón E, Hermoso M, Fernández EA, Cuello MA. Cyclooxygenase-2 Blockade Is Crucial to Restore Natural Killer Cell Activity before Anti-CTLA-4 Therapy against High-Grade Serous Ovarian Cancer. Cancers (Basel) 2023; 16:80. [PMID: 38201508 PMCID: PMC10778357 DOI: 10.3390/cancers16010080] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2023] [Revised: 12/15/2023] [Accepted: 12/20/2023] [Indexed: 01/12/2024] Open
Abstract
Chronic inflammation influences the tumor immune microenvironment (TIME) in high-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC). Specifically, cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) overexpression promotes cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein-4 (CTLA-4) expression. Notably, elevated COX-2 levels in the TIME have been associated with reduced response to anti-CTLA-4 immunotherapy. However, the precise impact of COX-2, encoded by PTGS2, on the immune profile remains unknown. To address this, we performed an integrated bioinformatics analysis using data from the HGSOC cohorts (TCGA-OV, n = 368; Australian cohort AOCS, n = 80; GSE26193, n = 62; and GSE30161, n = 45). Employing Gene Set Variation Analysis (GSVA), MIXTURE and Ecotyper cell deconvolution algorithms, we concluded that COX-2 was linked to immune cell ecosystems associated with shorter survival, cell dysfunction and lower NK cell effector cytotoxicity capacity. Next, we validated these results by characterizing circulating NK cells from HGSOC patients through flow cytometry and cytotoxic assays while undergoing COX-2 and CTLA-4 blockade. The blockade of COX-2 improved the cytotoxic capacity of NK cells against HGSOC cell lines. Our findings underscore the relevance of COX-2 in shaping the TIME and suggest its potential as a prognostic indicator and therapeutic target. Increased COX-2 expression may hamper the effectivity of immunotherapies that require NK cell effector function. These results provide a foundation for experimental validation and clinical trials investigating combined therapies targeting COX-2 and CTLA-4 in HGSOC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fernán Gómez-Valenzuela
- Department of Gynecology, School of Medicine, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago 8330024, Chile; (F.S.); (S.K.); (E.O.)
| | - Ignacio Wichmann
- Department of Obstetrics, School of Medicine, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago 833150, Chile;
- Advanced Center for Chronic Diseases (ACCDiS), Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago 833150, Chile
- Division of Oncology, Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Felipe Suárez
- Department of Gynecology, School of Medicine, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago 8330024, Chile; (F.S.); (S.K.); (E.O.)
| | - Sumie Kato
- Department of Gynecology, School of Medicine, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago 8330024, Chile; (F.S.); (S.K.); (E.O.)
| | - Enrique Ossandón
- Department of Gynecology, School of Medicine, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago 8330024, Chile; (F.S.); (S.K.); (E.O.)
| | - Marcela Hermoso
- Innate Immunity Laboratory, Immunology Program, Biomedical Sciences Institute, Faculty of Medicine, Universidad de Chile, Santiago 8900085, Chile;
| | - Elmer A. Fernández
- Fundación para el Progreso de la Medicina (CONICET), Córdoba X5000, Argentina;
- Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Córdoba X5000, Argentina
| | - Mauricio A. Cuello
- Department of Gynecology, School of Medicine, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago 8330024, Chile; (F.S.); (S.K.); (E.O.)
- Advanced Center for Chronic Diseases (ACCDiS), Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago 833150, Chile
- Center for Cancer Prevention and Control (CECAN), Santiago 8330023, Chile
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8
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Guerra C, Kalaitsidou M, Kueberuwa G, Hawkins R, Edmondson R. Engineering strategies to optimise adoptive cell therapy in ovarian cancer. Cancer Treat Rev 2023; 121:102632. [PMID: 37837788 DOI: 10.1016/j.ctrv.2023.102632] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2023] [Revised: 10/01/2023] [Accepted: 10/03/2023] [Indexed: 10/16/2023]
Abstract
Ovarian cancer is amongst the ten most common cancer types in women, and it is one of the leading causes of death. Despite the promising results of targeted therapies, including anti-angiogenic agents and poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitors (PARPi), the majority of patients will relapse and develop treatment resistance, implying that novel therapeutic strategies are required. Adoptive cell therapy (ACT) refers to the process by which autologous immune cells are used to eliminate cancer. Examples include tumour infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), T cells genetically engineered with T cell receptors (TCR), or chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cells. Recently, ACT has revealed promising results in the treatment of haematological malignancies, however, its application to solid tumours is still limited due to lack of functionality and persistence of T cells, prevalence of an exhausted phenotype and impaired trafficking towards the tumour microenvironment (TME). In this review we explore the potential of ACT for the treatment of ovarian cancer and strategies to overcome its principal limitations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Catarina Guerra
- InstilBio UK, 48 Grafton St, Manchester M13 9XX, Manchester, United Kingdom; School of Medical Sciences, The University of Manchester, Oxford Rd, Manchester, United Kingdom.
| | - Milena Kalaitsidou
- InstilBio UK, 48 Grafton St, Manchester M13 9XX, Manchester, United Kingdom.
| | - Gray Kueberuwa
- InstilBio UK, 48 Grafton St, Manchester M13 9XX, Manchester, United Kingdom.
| | - Robert Hawkins
- InstilBio UK, 48 Grafton St, Manchester M13 9XX, Manchester, United Kingdom.
| | - Richard Edmondson
- School of Medical Sciences, The University of Manchester, Oxford Rd, Manchester, United Kingdom.
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9
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Kim T, Lim H, Jun S, Park J, Lee D, Lee JH, Lee JY, Bang D. Globally shared TCR repertoires within the tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes of patients with metastatic gynecologic cancer. Sci Rep 2023; 13:20485. [PMID: 37993659 PMCID: PMC10665396 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-47740-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2023] [Accepted: 11/17/2023] [Indexed: 11/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Gynecologic cancer, including ovarian cancer and endometrial cancer, is characterized by morphological and molecular heterogeneity. Germline and somatic testing are available for patients to screen for pathogenic variants in genes such as BRCA1/2. Tissue expression levels of immunogenomic markers such as PD-L1 are also being used in clinical research. The basic therapeutic approach to gynecologic cancer combines surgery with chemotherapy. Immunotherapy, while not yet a mainstream treatment for gynecologic cancers, is advancing, with Dostarlimab recently receiving approval as a treatment for endometrial cancer. The goal remains to harness stimulated immune cells in the bloodstream to eradicate multiple metastases, a feat currently deemed challenging in a typical clinical setting. For the discovery of novel immunotherapy-based tumor targets, tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) give a key insight on tumor-related immune activities by providing T cell receptor (TCR) sequences. Understanding the TCR repertoires of TILs in metastatic tissues and the circulation is important from an immunotherapy standpoint, as a subset of T cells in the blood have the potential to help kill tumor cells. To explore the relationship between distant tissue biopsy regions and blood circulation, we investigated the TCR beta chain (TCRβ) in bulk tumor and matched blood samples from 39 patients with gynecologic cancer. We found that the TCR clones of TILs at different tumor sites were globally shared within patients and had high overlap with the TCR clones in peripheral blood.
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Affiliation(s)
- Taehoon Kim
- Department of Chemistry, Yonsei University, 50 Yonsei-ro, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, 03722, Korea
| | - Hyeonseob Lim
- Department of Chemistry, Yonsei University, 50 Yonsei-ro, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, 03722, Korea
| | - Soyeong Jun
- Department of Chemistry, Yonsei University, 50 Yonsei-ro, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, 03722, Korea
| | - Junsik Park
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Yonsei University, 50 Yonsei-ro, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, 03722, Korea
| | - Dongin Lee
- Department of Chemistry, Yonsei University, 50 Yonsei-ro, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, 03722, Korea
| | - Ji Hyun Lee
- Department of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, College of Medicine, Kyung Hee University, 26 Kyungheedae-ro, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul, 02447, Korea
- Department of Biomedical Science and Technology, Kyung Hee Medical Science Research Institute, Kyung Hee University, 26 Kyungheedae-ro, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul, 02447, Korea
| | - Jung-Yun Lee
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Yonsei University, 50 Yonsei-ro, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, 03722, Korea.
| | - Duhee Bang
- Department of Chemistry, Yonsei University, 50 Yonsei-ro, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, 03722, Korea.
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10
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Bordoloi D, Kulkarni AJ, Adeniji OS, Pampena MB, Bhojnagarwala PS, Zhao S, Ionescu C, Perales-Puchalt A, Parzych EM, Zhu X, Ali AR, Cassel J, Zhang R, Betts MR, Abdel-Mohsen M, Weiner DB. Siglec-7 glyco-immune binding mAbs or NK cell engager biologics induce potent antitumor immunity against ovarian cancers. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2023; 9:eadh4379. [PMID: 37910620 PMCID: PMC10619929 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adh4379] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2023] [Accepted: 09/27/2023] [Indexed: 11/03/2023]
Abstract
Ovarian cancer (OC) is a lethal gynecologic malignancy, with modest responses to CPI. Engagement of additional immune arms, such as NK cells, may be of value. We focused on Siglec-7 as a surface antigen for engaging this population. Human antibodies against Siglec-7 were developed and characterized. Coculture of OC cells with PBMCs/NKs and Siglec-7 binding antibodies showed NK-mediated killing of OC lines. Anti-Siglec-7 mAb (DB7.2) enhanced survival in OC-challenged mice. In addition, the combination of DB7.2 and anti-PD-1 demonstrated further improved OC killing in vitro. To use Siglec-7 engagement as an OC-specific strategy, we engineered an NK cell engager (NKCE) to simultaneously engage NK cells through Siglec-7, and OC targets through FSHR. The NKCE demonstrated robust in vitro killing of FSHR+ OC, controlled tumors, and improved survival in OC-challenged mice. These studies support additional investigation of the Siglec-7 targeting approaches as important tools for OC and other recalcitrant cancers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Devivasha Bordoloi
- Vaccine and Immunotherapy Center, The Wistar Institute, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | | | - Opeyemi S. Adeniji
- Vaccine and Immunotherapy Center, The Wistar Institute, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - M. Betina Pampena
- Department of Microbiology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | | | - Shushu Zhao
- Vaccine and Immunotherapy Center, The Wistar Institute, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Candice Ionescu
- Vaccine and Immunotherapy Center, The Wistar Institute, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | | | | | - Xizhou Zhu
- Vaccine and Immunotherapy Center, The Wistar Institute, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Ali R. Ali
- Vaccine and Immunotherapy Center, The Wistar Institute, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Joel Cassel
- Molecular Screening and Protein Expression facility, The Wistar Institute, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Rugang Zhang
- Immunology, Microenvironment and Metastasis Program, The Wistar Institute, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Michael R. Betts
- Department of Microbiology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | | | - David B. Weiner
- Vaccine and Immunotherapy Center, The Wistar Institute, Philadelphia, PA, USA
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11
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Said SA, de Hullu JA, van der Aa MA, Walraven JEW, Bekkers RLM, Slangen BFM, Pickkers P, van Altena AM. Impact of Sepsis on the Oncologic Outcomes of Advanced Epithelial Ovarian Cancer Patients: A Multicenter Observational Study. Cancers (Basel) 2023; 15:4642. [PMID: 37760610 PMCID: PMC10526225 DOI: 10.3390/cancers15184642] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2023] [Revised: 09/07/2023] [Accepted: 09/10/2023] [Indexed: 09/29/2023] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE The sepsis-induced inflammatory response may potentially affect malignant cells. Recently, a case of spontaneous regression of a histologically confirmed International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage IIIC epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) following sepsis was reported. The aim of our study was to assess the impact of sepsis on the oncologic outcomes of advanced-stage EOC patients. METHODS Gynecologic oncologic patients admitted to the Intensive Care Unit of three oncologic centers between 2006 and 2019 were identified and patients who experienced sepsis following advanced-stage EOC diagnosis were selected. Survival outcomes were compared with advanced-stage EOC patients from the Netherlands Cancer Registry (NCR). To correct for case-mix differences, propensity score matching using 1:3 nearest neighbor matching was conducted after which survival analyses were repeated. RESULTS A total of 18 of 215 patients with advanced-stage EOC experienced sepsis. Sepsis patients had similar distributions of patient, tumor, and treatment characteristics to 3988 patients from the NCR cohort. A total of 3 of 18 patients died from the complications of sepsis. While the remaining patients initially responded to treatment, 14/15 patients relapsed. The median (IQR) overall survival was 31 (24-44) and 35 (20-60) months for the sepsis and unmatched NCR cohort (p = 0.56), respectively. The median (IQR) progression-free survival was 16 (11-21) and 16 (11-27) months (p = 0.90), respectively. Survival outcomes did not differ following propensity matching (overall survival of 31 (24-44) vs. 36 (20-56) months, p = 0.40; progression-free survival of 16 (11-21) and 16 (12-21) months, p = 0.72). CONCLUSION In this observational study, the occurrence of sepsis did not affect the oncologic and survival outcomes of advanced-stage EOC patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sherin A. Said
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Radboud University Medical Center, 6525 EP Nijmegen, The Netherlands; (J.A.d.H.); (A.M.v.A.)
- Department of Research and Development, Netherlands Comprehensive Cancer Organization (IKNL), 3511 DT Utrecht, The Netherlands;
| | - Joanne A. de Hullu
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Radboud University Medical Center, 6525 EP Nijmegen, The Netherlands; (J.A.d.H.); (A.M.v.A.)
| | - Maaike A. van der Aa
- Department of Research and Development, Netherlands Comprehensive Cancer Organization (IKNL), 3511 DT Utrecht, The Netherlands;
| | - Janneke E. W. Walraven
- Department of Medical Oncology, Radboud University Medical Center, 6525 EP Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Ruud L. M. Bekkers
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Catharina Hospital, 5623 EJ Eindhoven, The Netherlands
- GROW–School for Oncology and Reproduction, University of Maastricht, 6229 GT Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Brigitte F. M. Slangen
- GROW–School for Oncology and Reproduction, University of Maastricht, 6229 GT Maastricht, The Netherlands
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Maastricht University Medical Centre, 6229 HX Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Peter Pickkers
- Department of Intensive Care Medicine, Radboud University Medical Center, 6525 EP Nijmegen, The Netherlands;
| | - Anne M. van Altena
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Radboud University Medical Center, 6525 EP Nijmegen, The Netherlands; (J.A.d.H.); (A.M.v.A.)
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12
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Wu Y, Liang L, Li Q, Shu L, Wang P, Huang S. The role of pyroptosis-related lncRNA risk signature in ovarian cancer prognosis and immune system. Discov Oncol 2023; 14:149. [PMID: 37597098 PMCID: PMC10439870 DOI: 10.1007/s12672-023-00767-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2023] [Accepted: 08/10/2023] [Indexed: 08/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Ovarian cancer is a leading cause of death in females with gynecologic cancers. Pyroptosis is a relatively new discovered programmed cell death that is believed to be associated with inflammation. However, studies on pyroptosis-related lncRNAs in ovarian cancer are limited. In this study, we identified 29 pyroptosis-related genes and screened out 72 pyroptosis-related lncRNAs. Furthermore, the 72 lncRNAs were eliminated to 2 survival-related lncRNAs using Cox regression and Lasso regression to build an ovarian cancer prognostic prediction signature and were further validated on the test set. We adopted a riskscore from the two-gene signature, and the survival in low-risk group was higher than the high-risk group. Functional enrichment analysis indicated that the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between two risk groups were associated with tumor immunity. This study implies that pyroptosis-related genes are closely related to tumor immunity and could be potential therapeutic factors for ovarian cancer treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yanling Wu
- Department of Gynecology, Shenzhen Qianhai Shekou Free Trade Zone Hospital, Shenzhen, 518067, Guangdong, China
| | - Lei Liang
- Department of Gynecology, Shenzhen Qianhai Shekou Free Trade Zone Hospital, Shenzhen, 518067, Guangdong, China
| | - Qin Li
- Department of Research and Development, Zhejiang Zhongwei Medical Research Center, Hangzhou, 310018, Zhejiang, China
| | - Lilu Shu
- Department of Research and Development, Zhejiang Zhongwei Medical Research Center, Hangzhou, 310018, Zhejiang, China
| | - Peter Wang
- Department of Research and Development, Zhejiang Zhongwei Medical Research Center, Hangzhou, 310018, Zhejiang, China.
| | - Shufeng Huang
- Department of Gynecology, Shenzhen Qianhai Shekou Free Trade Zone Hospital, Shenzhen, 518067, Guangdong, China.
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13
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Gerton TJ, Green A, Campisi M, Chen M, Gjeci I, Mahadevan N, Lee CAA, Mishra R, Vo HV, Haratani K, Li ZH, Hasselblatt KT, Testino B, Connor T, Lian CG, Elias KM, Lizotte P, Ivanova EV, Barbie DA, Dinulescu DM. Development of a Patient-Derived 3D Immuno-Oncology Platform to Potentiate Immunotherapy Responses in Ascites-Derived Circulating Tumor Cells. Cancers (Basel) 2023; 15:4128. [PMID: 37627156 PMCID: PMC10452550 DOI: 10.3390/cancers15164128] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2023] [Revised: 08/10/2023] [Accepted: 08/14/2023] [Indexed: 08/27/2023] Open
Abstract
High-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC) is responsible for the majority of gynecology cancer-related deaths. Patients in remission often relapse with more aggressive forms of disease within 2 years post-treatment. Alternative immuno-oncology (IO) strategies, such as immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) targeting the PD-(L)1 signaling axis, have proven inefficient so far. Our aim is to utilize epigenetic modulators to maximize the benefit of personalized IO combinations in ex vivo 3D patient-derived platforms and in vivo syngeneic models. Using patient-derived tumor ascites, we optimized an ex vivo 3D screening platform (PDOTS), which employs autologous immune cells and circulating ascites-derived tumor cells, to rapidly test personalized IO combinations. Most importantly, patient responses to platinum chemotherapy and poly-ADP ribose polymerase inhibitors in 3D platforms recapitulate clinical responses. Furthermore, similar to clinical trial results, responses to ICB in PDOTS tend to be low and positively correlated with the frequency of CD3+ immune cells and EPCAM+/PD-L1+ tumor cells. Thus, the greatest response observed with anti-PD-1/anti-PD-L1 immunotherapy alone is seen in patient-derived HGSOC ascites, which present with high levels of systemic CD3+ and PD-L1+ expression in immune and tumor cells, respectively. In addition, priming with epigenetic adjuvants greatly potentiates ICB in ex vivo 3D testing platforms and in vivo tumor models. We further find that epigenetic priming induces increased tumor secretion of several key cytokines known to augment T and NK cell activation and cytotoxicity, including IL-6, IP-10 (CXCL10), KC (CXCL1), and RANTES (CCL5). Moreover, epigenetic priming alone and in combination with ICB immunotherapy in patient-derived PDOTS induces rapid upregulation of CD69, a reliable early activation of immune markers in both CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. Consequently, this functional precision medicine approach could rapidly identify personalized therapeutic combinations able to potentiate ICB, which is a great advantage, especially given the current clinical difficulty of testing a high number of potential combinations in patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas J. Gerton
- Division of Women’s and Perinatal Pathology, Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Allen Green
- Division of Women’s and Perinatal Pathology, Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Marco Campisi
- Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA 02215, USA
| | - Minyue Chen
- Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA 02215, USA
| | - Iliana Gjeci
- Belfer Center for Applied Cancer Science, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA 02215, USA
| | - Navin Mahadevan
- Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA 02215, USA
| | - Catherine A. A. Lee
- Division of Dermatopathology, Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Ranjan Mishra
- Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA
| | - Ha V. Vo
- Belfer Center for Applied Cancer Science, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA 02215, USA
| | - Koji Haratani
- Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA 02215, USA
| | - Ze-Hua Li
- Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA 02215, USA
| | - Kathleen T. Hasselblatt
- Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Bryanna Testino
- Division of Women’s and Perinatal Pathology, Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Trevor Connor
- Division of Women’s and Perinatal Pathology, Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Christine G. Lian
- Division of Dermatopathology, Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Kevin M. Elias
- Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
- Division of Gynecologic Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA 02215, USA
| | - Patrick Lizotte
- Belfer Center for Applied Cancer Science, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA 02215, USA
| | - Elena V. Ivanova
- Belfer Center for Applied Cancer Science, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA 02215, USA
| | - David A. Barbie
- Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA 02215, USA
- Belfer Center for Applied Cancer Science, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA 02215, USA
| | - Daniela M. Dinulescu
- Division of Women’s and Perinatal Pathology, Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
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14
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Okła K. Myeloid-Derived Suppressor Cells (MDSCs) in Ovarian Cancer-Looking Back and Forward. Cells 2023; 12:1912. [PMID: 37508575 PMCID: PMC10377883 DOI: 10.3390/cells12141912] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/04/2023] [Revised: 07/15/2023] [Accepted: 07/20/2023] [Indexed: 07/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) play a significant role in the immune system and have been extensively studied in cancer. MDSCs are a heterogeneous population of myeloid cells that accumulate in the tumor microenvironment. Consequently, the high abundance of these cells often leads to immunosuppression, tumor growth, treatment failure, and poor prognosis. Ovarian cancer ranks fifth in cancer deaths among women, accounting for more deaths than any other cancer of the female genital tract. Currently, there is a lack of effective clinical strategies for the treatment of ovarian cancer. Although several studies underline the negative role of human MDSCs in ovarian cancer, this topic is still understudied. The works on MDSCs are summarized here, along with an explanation of why focusing on these cells would be a promising approach for treating ovarian cancer patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karolina Okła
- The First Department of Oncologic Gynecology and Gynecology, Medical University of Lublin, 20-081 Lublin, Poland
- Department of Surgery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
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15
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Liu Y, Yang J, Hilliard TS, Wang Z, Johnson J, Wang W, Harper EI, Ott C, O'Brien C, Campbell L, Crowley B, Grisoli S, Stavrou NM, Juncker-Jensen A, Stack MS. Host obesity alters the ovarian tumor immune microenvironment and impacts response to standard of care chemotherapy. J Exp Clin Cancer Res 2023; 42:165. [PMID: 37438818 PMCID: PMC10337170 DOI: 10.1186/s13046-023-02740-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2023] [Accepted: 06/25/2023] [Indexed: 07/14/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The majority of women with epithelial ovarian cancer (OvCa) are diagnosed with metastatic disease, resulting in a poor 5-year survival of 31%. Obesity is a recognized non-infectious pandemic that increases OvCa incidence, enhances metastatic success and reduces survival. We have previously demonstrated a link between obesity and OvCa metastatic success in a diet-induced obesity mouse model wherein a significantly enhanced tumor burden was associated with a decreased M1/M2 tumor-associated macrophage ratio (Liu Y et al. Can, Res. 2015; 75:5046-57). METHODS The objective of this study was to use pre-clinical murine models of diet-induced obesity to evaluate the effect of a high fat diet (HFD) on response to standard of care chemotherapy and to assess obesity-associated changes in the tumor microenvironment. Archived tumor tissues from ovarian cancer patients of defined body mass index (BMI) were also evaluated using multiplexed immunofluorescence analysis of immune markers. RESULTS We observed a significantly diminished response to standard of care paclitaxel/carboplatin chemotherapy in HFD mice relative to low fat diet (LFD) controls. A corresponding decrease in the M1/M2 macrophage ratio and enhanced tumor fibrosis were observed both in murine DIO studies and in human tumors from women with BMI > 30. CONCLUSIONS Our data suggest that the reported negative impact of obesity on OvCa patient survival may be due in part to the effect of the altered M1/M2 tumor-associated macrophage ratio and enhanced fibrosis on chemosensitivity. These data demonstrate a contribution of host obesity to ovarian tumor progression and therapeutic response and support future combination strategies targeting macrophage polarization and/or fibrosis in the obese host.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yueying Liu
- Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, USA
- Harper Cancer Research Institute, University of Notre Dame, A200E Harper Hall, 1234 N. Notre Dame Ave, South Bend, IN, 46617, USA
| | - Jing Yang
- Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, USA
- Harper Cancer Research Institute, University of Notre Dame, A200E Harper Hall, 1234 N. Notre Dame Ave, South Bend, IN, 46617, USA
| | - Tyvette S Hilliard
- Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, USA
- Harper Cancer Research Institute, University of Notre Dame, A200E Harper Hall, 1234 N. Notre Dame Ave, South Bend, IN, 46617, USA
| | - Zhikun Wang
- Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, USA
- Harper Cancer Research Institute, University of Notre Dame, A200E Harper Hall, 1234 N. Notre Dame Ave, South Bend, IN, 46617, USA
| | - Jeff Johnson
- Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, USA
- Harper Cancer Research Institute, University of Notre Dame, A200E Harper Hall, 1234 N. Notre Dame Ave, South Bend, IN, 46617, USA
| | - Wanrui Wang
- Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, USA
- Harper Cancer Research Institute, University of Notre Dame, A200E Harper Hall, 1234 N. Notre Dame Ave, South Bend, IN, 46617, USA
| | - Elizabeth I Harper
- Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, USA
- Harper Cancer Research Institute, University of Notre Dame, A200E Harper Hall, 1234 N. Notre Dame Ave, South Bend, IN, 46617, USA
| | - Connor Ott
- Harper Cancer Research Institute, University of Notre Dame, A200E Harper Hall, 1234 N. Notre Dame Ave, South Bend, IN, 46617, USA
| | - Caitlin O'Brien
- Harper Cancer Research Institute, University of Notre Dame, A200E Harper Hall, 1234 N. Notre Dame Ave, South Bend, IN, 46617, USA
| | - Leigh Campbell
- Harper Cancer Research Institute, University of Notre Dame, A200E Harper Hall, 1234 N. Notre Dame Ave, South Bend, IN, 46617, USA
| | - Brian Crowley
- Harper Cancer Research Institute, University of Notre Dame, A200E Harper Hall, 1234 N. Notre Dame Ave, South Bend, IN, 46617, USA
| | - Stephen Grisoli
- Harper Cancer Research Institute, University of Notre Dame, A200E Harper Hall, 1234 N. Notre Dame Ave, South Bend, IN, 46617, USA
| | | | | | - M Sharon Stack
- Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, USA.
- Harper Cancer Research Institute, University of Notre Dame, A200E Harper Hall, 1234 N. Notre Dame Ave, South Bend, IN, 46617, USA.
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16
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Pawłowska A, Rekowska A, Kuryło W, Pańczyszyn A, Kotarski J, Wertel I. Current Understanding on Why Ovarian Cancer Is Resistant to Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:10859. [PMID: 37446039 DOI: 10.3390/ijms241310859] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2023] [Revised: 06/21/2023] [Accepted: 06/27/2023] [Indexed: 07/15/2023] Open
Abstract
The standard treatment of ovarian cancer (OC) patients, including debulking surgery and first-line chemotherapy, is unsatisfactory because of recurrent episodes in the majority (~70%) of patients with advanced OC. Clinical trials have shown only a modest (10-15%) response of OC individuals to treatment based on immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). The resistance of OC to therapy is caused by various factors, including OC heterogeneity, low density of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), non-cellular and cellular interactions in the tumor microenvironment (TME), as well as a network of microRNA regulating immune checkpoint pathways. Moreover, ICIs are the most efficient in tumors that are marked by high microsatellite instability and high tumor mutation burden, which is rare among OC patients. The great challenge in ICI implementation is connected with distinguishing hyper-, pseudo-, and real progression of the disease. The understanding of the immunological, molecular, and genetic mechanisms of OC resistance is crucial to selecting the group of OC individuals in whom personalized treatment would be beneficial. In this review, we summarize current knowledge about the selected factors inducing OC resistance and discuss the future directions of ICI-based immunotherapy development for OC patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Pawłowska
- Independent Laboratory of Cancer Diagnostics and Immunology, Department of Oncological Gynaecology and Gynaecology, Faculty of Medicine, Medical University of Lublin, Chodźki 1, 20-093 Lublin, Poland
| | - Anna Rekowska
- Students' Scientific Association, Independent Laboratory of Cancer Diagnostics and Immunology, Medical University of Lublin, Chodźki 1, 20-093 Lublin, Poland
| | - Weronika Kuryło
- Students' Scientific Association, Independent Laboratory of Cancer Diagnostics and Immunology, Medical University of Lublin, Chodźki 1, 20-093 Lublin, Poland
| | - Anna Pańczyszyn
- Institute of Medical Sciences, Department of Biology and Genetics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Opole, Oleska 48, 45-052 Opole, Poland
| | - Jan Kotarski
- Independent Laboratory of Cancer Diagnostics and Immunology, Department of Oncological Gynaecology and Gynaecology, Faculty of Medicine, Medical University of Lublin, Chodźki 1, 20-093 Lublin, Poland
| | - Iwona Wertel
- Independent Laboratory of Cancer Diagnostics and Immunology, Department of Oncological Gynaecology and Gynaecology, Faculty of Medicine, Medical University of Lublin, Chodźki 1, 20-093 Lublin, Poland
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17
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Goel RK, Kim N, Lukong KE. Seeking a better understanding of the non-receptor tyrosine kinase, SRMS. Heliyon 2023; 9:e16421. [PMID: 37251450 PMCID: PMC10220380 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e16421] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2023] [Revised: 05/14/2023] [Accepted: 05/16/2023] [Indexed: 05/31/2023] Open
Abstract
SRMS (Src-Related kinase lacking C-terminal regulatory tyrosine and N-terminal Myristoylation Sites) is a non-receptor tyrosine kinase first reported in a 1994 screen for genes regulating murine neural precursor cells. SRMS, pronounced "Shrims", lacks the C-terminal regulatory tyrosine critical for the regulation of the enzymatic activity of Src-family kinases (SFKs). Another remarkable characteristic of SRMS is its localization into distinct SRMS cytoplasmic punctae (SCPs) or GREL (Goel Raghuveera-Erique Lukong) bodies, a pattern not observed in the SFKs. This unique subcellular localization of SRMS could dictate its cellular targets, proteome, and potentially, substrates. However, the function of SRMS is still relatively unknown. Further, how is its activity regulated and by what cellular targets? Studies have emerged highlighting the potential role of SRMS in autophagy and in regulating the activation of BRK/PTK6. Potential novel cellular substrates have also been identified, including DOK1, vimentin, Sam68, FBKP51, and OTUB1. Recent studies have also demonstrated the potential role of the kinase in various cancers, including gastric and colorectal cancers and platinum resistance in ovarian cancer. This review discusses the advancements made in SRMS-related biology to date and the path to understanding the cellular and physiological significance of the kinase.
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Affiliation(s)
- Raghuveera Kumar Goel
- Center for Network Systems Biology, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Biochemistry, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Nayoung Kim
- Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology, and Immunology, 107 Wiggins Road, Health Sciences Building, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon S7N 5E5, Saskatchewan, Canada
| | - Kiven Erique Lukong
- Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology, and Immunology, 107 Wiggins Road, Health Sciences Building, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon S7N 5E5, Saskatchewan, Canada
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18
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Jiang Y, Song L, Lin Y, Nowialis P, Gao Q, Li T, Li B, Mao X, Song Q, Xing C, Zheng G, Huang S, Jin L. ROS-mediated SRMS activation confers platinum resistance in ovarian cancer. Oncogene 2023; 42:1672-1684. [PMID: 37020040 PMCID: PMC10231978 DOI: 10.1038/s41388-023-02679-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2022] [Revised: 03/17/2023] [Accepted: 03/21/2023] [Indexed: 04/07/2023]
Abstract
Ovarian cancer is the leading cause of death among gynecological malignancies. Checkpoint blockade immunotherapy has so far only shown modest efficacy in ovarian cancer and platinum-based chemotherapy remains the front-line treatment. Development of platinum resistance is one of the most important factors contributing to ovarian cancer recurrence and mortality. Through kinome-wide synthetic lethal RNAi screening combined with unbiased datamining of cell line platinum response in CCLE and GDSC databases, here we report that Src-Related Kinase Lacking C-Terminal Regulatory Tyrosine And N-Terminal Myristylation Sites (SRMS), a non-receptor tyrosine kinase, is a novel negative regulator of MKK4-JNK signaling under platinum treatment and plays an important role in dictating platinum efficacy in ovarian cancer. Suppressing SRMS specifically sensitizes p53-deficient ovarian cancer cells to platinum in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, SRMS serves as a "sensor" for platinum-induced ROS. Platinum treatment-induced ROS activates SRMS, which inhibits MKK4 kinase activity by directly phosphorylating MKK4 at Y269 and Y307, and consequently attenuates MKK4-JNK activation. Suppressing SRMS leads to enhanced MKK4-JNK-mediated apoptosis by inhibiting MCL1 transcription, thereby boosting platinum efficacy. Importantly, through a "drug repurposing" strategy, we uncovered that PLX4720, a small molecular selective inhibitor of B-RafV600E, is a novel SRMS inhibitor that can potently boost platinum efficacy in ovarian cancer in vitro and in vivo. Therefore, targeting SRMS with PLX4720 holds the promise to improve the efficacy of platinum-based chemotherapy and overcome chemoresistance in ovarian cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yunhan Jiang
- Department of Molecular Medicine, Long School of Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, 78229, USA
| | - Lina Song
- Department of Molecular Medicine, Long School of Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, 78229, USA
| | - Yizhu Lin
- Department of Cell and Tissue Biology, School of Dentistry, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, 94143, USA
| | - Pawel Nowialis
- Department of Molecular Medicine, Long School of Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, 78229, USA
| | - Qiongmei Gao
- Department of Molecular Medicine, Long School of Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, 78229, USA
| | - Tao Li
- Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32610, USA
| | - Bin Li
- Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32610, USA
| | - Xiaobo Mao
- Institute for Cell Engineering, Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA
| | - Qianqian Song
- Department of Cancer Biology, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, 27101, USA
| | - Chengguo Xing
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32610, USA
| | - Guangrong Zheng
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32610, USA
| | - Shuang Huang
- Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32610, USA
| | - Lingtao Jin
- Department of Molecular Medicine, Long School of Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, 78229, USA.
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Zhang XW, Wu YS, Xu TM, Cui MH. CAR-T Cells in the Treatment of Ovarian Cancer: A Promising Cell Therapy. Biomolecules 2023; 13:biom13030465. [PMID: 36979400 PMCID: PMC10046142 DOI: 10.3390/biom13030465] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2022] [Revised: 02/23/2023] [Accepted: 03/01/2023] [Indexed: 03/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Ovarian cancer (OC) is among the most common gynecologic malignancies with a poor prognosis and a high mortality rate. Most patients are diagnosed at an advanced stage (stage III or IV), with 5-year survival rates ranging from 25% to 47% worldwide. Surgical resection and first-line chemotherapy are the main treatment modalities for OC. However, patients usually relapse within a few years of initial treatment due to resistance to chemotherapy. Cell-based therapies, particularly adoptive T-cell therapy and chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR-T) cell therapy, represent an alternative immunotherapy approach with great potential for hematologic malignancies. However, the use of CAR-T-cell therapy for the treatment of OC is still associated with several difficulties. In this review, we comprehensively discuss recent innovations in CAR-T-cell engineering to improve clinical efficacy, as well as strategies to overcome the limitations of CAR-T-cell therapy in OC.
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20
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Xun Z, Ding X, Zhang Y, Zhang B, Lai S, Zou D, Zheng J, Chen G, Su B, Han L, Ye Y. Reconstruction of the tumor spatial microenvironment along the malignant-boundary-nonmalignant axis. Nat Commun 2023; 14:933. [PMID: 36806082 PMCID: PMC9941488 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-36560-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2022] [Accepted: 02/06/2023] [Indexed: 02/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Although advances in spatial transcriptomics (ST) enlarge to unveil spatial landscape of tissues, it remains challenging to delineate pathology-relevant and cellular localizations, and interactions exclusive to a spatial niche (e.g., tumor boundary). Here, we develop Cottrazm, integrating ST with hematoxylin and eosin histological image, and single-cell transcriptomics to delineate the tumor boundary connecting malignant and non-malignant cell spots in tumor tissues, deconvolute cell-type composition at spatial location, and reconstruct cell type-specific gene expression profiles at sub-spot level. We validate the performance of Cottrazm along the malignant-boundary-nonmalignant spatial axis. We identify specific macrophage and fibroblast subtypes localized around tumor boundary that interacted with tumor cells to generate a structural boundary, which limits T cell infiltration and promotes immune exclusion in tumor microenvironment. In this work, Cottrazm provides an integrated tool framework to dissect the tumor spatial microenvironment and facilitates the discovery of functional biological insights, thereby identifying therapeutic targets in oncologic ST datasets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhenzhen Xun
- Center for Immune-Related Diseases at Shanghai Institute of Immunology, Department of Gastroenterology, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
- Shanghai Institute of Immunology, State Key Laboratory of Oncogenes and Related Genes, Department of Immunology and Microbiology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200025, China
| | - Xinyu Ding
- Center for Immune-Related Diseases at Shanghai Institute of Immunology, Department of Gastroenterology, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
- Shanghai Institute of Immunology, State Key Laboratory of Oncogenes and Related Genes, Department of Immunology and Microbiology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200025, China
| | - Yao Zhang
- Department of Gastroenterology, Ruijin Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200025, China
| | - Benyan Zhang
- Department of Pathology, Ruijin Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200025, China
| | - Shujing Lai
- Shanghai Institute of Immunology, State Key Laboratory of Oncogenes and Related Genes, Department of Immunology and Microbiology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200025, China
| | - Duowu Zou
- Department of Gastroenterology, Ruijin Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200025, China
| | - Junke Zheng
- Hongqiao International Institute of Medicine, Shanghai Tongren Hospital, Key Laboratory of Cell Differentiation and Apoptosis of Chinese Ministry of Education, Faculty of Basic Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200025, China
| | - Guoqiang Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Oncogenes and Related Genes, and Research Unit of Stress and Cancer, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Shanghai Cancer Institute, Renji hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine (SJTU-SM), Shanghai, 200127, China
| | - Bing Su
- Center for Immune-Related Diseases at Shanghai Institute of Immunology, Department of Gastroenterology, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
- Shanghai Institute of Immunology, State Key Laboratory of Oncogenes and Related Genes, Department of Immunology and Microbiology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200025, China
| | - Leng Han
- Center for Epigenetics and Disease Prevention, Institute of Biosciences and Technology, Texas A&M University, Houston, TX, 77030, USA.
| | - Youqiong Ye
- Center for Immune-Related Diseases at Shanghai Institute of Immunology, Department of Gastroenterology, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
- Shanghai Institute of Immunology, State Key Laboratory of Oncogenes and Related Genes, Department of Immunology and Microbiology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200025, China.
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21
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Wang L, Li S, Zhu D, Qin Y, Wang X, Hong Z, Han Z. Effectiveness and safety of nab-paclitaxel and platinum as first-line chemotherapy for ovarian cancer: a retrospective study. J Gynecol Oncol 2023:34.e44. [PMID: 36807747 DOI: 10.3802/jgo.2023.34.e44] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2022] [Revised: 01/03/2023] [Accepted: 01/18/2023] [Indexed: 02/15/2023] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of nab-paclitaxel plus platinum as first-line chemotherapy for ovarian cancer (OC). METHODS Patients administered platinum combined with nab-paclitaxel as first-line chemotherapy for epithelial OC, fallopian tube cancer, or primary peritoneal cancer from July 2018 to December 2021 were retrospectively evaluated. The primary outcome was progression-free survival (PFS). Adverse events (AEs) were examined. Subgroup analysis was performed. RESULTS Seventy-two patients (median age, 54.5 years; range, 20.0-79.0 years) were evaluated, including 12 and 60 administered neoadjuvant therapy and primary surgery with subsequent chemotherapy, respectively. The median follow-up duration was 25.6 months, and the median PFS was 26.7 (95% confidence interval [CI]=24.0-29.3) months in the whole patient population. In the neoadjuvant subgroup, the median PFS was 26.7 (95% CI=22.9-30.5) months vs. 30.1 (95% CI=23.1-37.1) months in the primary surgery subgroup. Twenty-seven patients were administered nab-paclitaxel plus carboplatin and had a median PFS of 30.3 (95% CI=not available [NA]-NA) months. The commonest grade 3-4 AEs included anemia (15.3%), white blood cell decreased (11.1%), and neutrophil count decreased (20.8%). No drug-related hypersensitivity reactions occurred. CONCLUSION Nab-paclitaxel plus platinum as first-line treatment in OC was associated with a favorable prognosis and was tolerable in patients with OC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liangliang Wang
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Shuangying Li
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Da Zhu
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Yu Qin
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Xiaoli Wang
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Zhenya Hong
- Department of Hematology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
| | - Zhiqiang Han
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
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Skorda A, Bay ML, Hautaniemi S, Lahtinen A, Kallunki T. Kinase Inhibitors in the Treatment of Ovarian Cancer: Current State and Future Promises. Cancers (Basel) 2022; 14:cancers14246257. [PMID: 36551745 PMCID: PMC9777107 DOI: 10.3390/cancers14246257] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2022] [Revised: 12/10/2022] [Accepted: 12/14/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Ovarian cancer is the deadliest gynecological cancer, the high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma (HGSC) being its most common and most aggressive form. Despite the latest therapeutical advancements following the introduction of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR) targeting angiogenesis inhibitors and poly-ADP-ribose-polymerase (PARP) inhibitors to supplement the standard platinum- and taxane-based chemotherapy, the expected overall survival of HGSC patients has not improved significantly from the five-year rate of 42%. This calls for the development and testing of more efficient treatment options. Many oncogenic kinase-signaling pathways are dysregulated in HGSC. Since small-molecule kinase inhibitors have revolutionized the treatment of many solid cancers due to the generality of the increased activation of protein kinases in carcinomas, it is reasonable to evaluate their potential against HGSC. Here, we present the latest concluded and on-going clinical trials on kinase inhibitors in HGSC, as well as the recent work concerning ovarian cancer patient organoids and xenograft models. We discuss the potential of kinase inhibitors as personalized treatments, which would require comprehensive assessment of the biological mechanisms underlying tumor spread and chemoresistance in individual patients, and their connection to tumor genome and transcriptome to establish identifiable subgroups of patients who are most likely to benefit from a given therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aikaterini Skorda
- Cancer Invasion and Resistance Group, Danish Cancer Society Research Center, Strandboulevarden 49, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Marie Lund Bay
- Cancer Invasion and Resistance Group, Danish Cancer Society Research Center, Strandboulevarden 49, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Sampsa Hautaniemi
- Research Program in Systems Oncology, Research Programs Unit, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, FI-00014 Helsinki, Finland
| | - Alexandra Lahtinen
- Research Program in Systems Oncology, Research Programs Unit, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, FI-00014 Helsinki, Finland
- Correspondence: (A.L.); (T.K.)
| | - Tuula Kallunki
- Cancer Invasion and Resistance Group, Danish Cancer Society Research Center, Strandboulevarden 49, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
- Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, DK-2200 Copenhagen, Denmark
- Correspondence: (A.L.); (T.K.)
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γδ T Lymphocytes as a Double-Edged Sword-State of the Art in Gynecological Diseases. Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23:ijms232314797. [PMID: 36499125 PMCID: PMC9740168 DOI: 10.3390/ijms232314797] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2022] [Revised: 11/21/2022] [Accepted: 11/22/2022] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Human gamma-delta (γδ) T cells are a heterogeneous cell population that bridges the gap between innate and acquired immunity. They are involved in a variety of immunological processes, including tumor escape mechanisms. However, by being prolific cytokine producers, these lymphocytes also participate in antitumor cytotoxicity. Which one of the two possibilities takes place depends on the tumor microenvironment (TME) and the subpopulation of γδ T lymphocytes. The aim of this paper is to summarize existing knowledge about the phenotype and dual role of γδ T cells in cancers, including ovarian cancer (OC). OC is the third most common gynecological cancer and the most lethal gynecological malignancy. Anticancer immunity in OC is modulated by the TME, including by immunosuppressive cells, cytokines, and soluble factors. Immune cells are exposed in the TME to many signals that determine their immunophenotype and can manipulate their functions. The significance of γδ T cells in the pathophysiology of OC is enigmatic and remains to be investigated.
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The Dual Blockade of the TIGIT and PD-1/PD-L1 Pathway as a New Hope for Ovarian Cancer Patients. Cancers (Basel) 2022; 14:cancers14235757. [PMID: 36497240 PMCID: PMC9740841 DOI: 10.3390/cancers14235757] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2022] [Revised: 11/17/2022] [Accepted: 11/19/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
The prognosis for ovarian cancer (OC) patients is poor and the five-year survival rate is only 47%. Immune checkpoints (ICPs) appear to be the potential targets in up-and-coming OC treatment. However, the response of OC patients to immunotherapy based on programmed cell death pathway (PD-1/PD-L1) inhibitors totals only 6-15%. The promising approach is a combined therapy, including other ICPs such as the T-cell immunoglobulin and ITIM domain/CD155/DNAX accessory molecule-1 (TIGIT/CD155/DNAM-1) axis. Preclinical studies in a murine model of colorectal cancer showed that the dual blockade of PD-1/PD-L1 and TIGIT led to remission in the whole studied group vs. the regression of the tumors with the blockade of a single pathway. The approach stimulates the effector activity of T cells and NK cells, and redirects the immune system activity against the tumor. The understanding of the synergistic action of the TIGIT and PD-1/PD-L1 blockade is, however, poor. Thus, the aim of this review is to summarize the current knowledge about the mode of action of the dual TIGIT and PD-1/PD-L1 blockade and its potential benefits for OC patients. Considering the positive impact of this combined therapy in malignancies, including lung and colorectal cancer, it appears to be a promising approach in OC treatment.
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25
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Wang Y, Zhang L, Bai Y, Wang L, Ma X. Therapeutic implications of the tumor microenvironment in ovarian cancer patients receiving PD-1/PD-L1 therapy. Front Immunol 2022; 13:1036298. [PMID: 36341388 PMCID: PMC9630909 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.1036298] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/04/2022] [Accepted: 09/27/2022] [Indexed: 06/28/2024] Open
Abstract
Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) ranks as the second most common cause of gynecologic cancer death. The conventional treatment for patients with EOC is postoperative therapy along with platinum chemotherapy. However, a more efficient treatment regimen is of great need for these patients diagnosed with advanced disease (FIGO stages III-IV), whose survival is approximately 29%. Immunotherapy seems to be an encouraging therapeutic strategy for EOC. Given the crucial role in the complicated interactions between tumor cells and other cells, the tumor microenvironment (TME) influences the response to immunotherapy. In this review, we discuss feasible strategies for EOC immunotherapy by exploiting the reciprocity of cancer cells and the constituents of the TME.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yusha Wang
- Division of Biotherapy, Cancer Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
- Lung Cancer Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Lei Zhang
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Chengdu First People’s Hospital and Chengdu Integrated Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Western Medicine Hospital, Chengdu, China
| | - Yun Bai
- West China School of Medicine, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Li Wang
- Lung Cancer Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Xuelei Ma
- Division of Biotherapy, Cancer Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
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Targeting Homologous Recombination Deficiency in Ovarian Cancer with PARP Inhibitors: Synthetic Lethal Strategies That Impact Overall Survival. Cancers (Basel) 2022; 14:cancers14194621. [PMID: 36230543 PMCID: PMC9563432 DOI: 10.3390/cancers14194621] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2022] [Revised: 09/09/2022] [Accepted: 09/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Simple Summary Synthetic lethality approaches to cancer therapy involves combining events to cause cancer cell death. Using this strategy, major advances have occurred in the treatment of women with ovarian cancer who have defects in the Homologous Recombination Repair (HRR) pathway. When the HRR pathway is defective, due to mutations or epigenetic changes in genes such as BRCA1 or BRCA2, cells can no longer accurately repair double strand breaks (DSBs). Capitalising on this weakness, pharmacological inhibition of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) that function to repair single strand breaks (SSBs) leads to synthetic lethality in cells with defective HRR. PARP inhibitors (PARPis) including olaparib, niraparib and rucaparib are approved for the clinical management of women with ovarian cancer. Understanding and overcoming issues of acquired resistance to PARPis, extending these strategies to benefit more patients and combining PARPis with other drugs, including immunotherapies, are of high priority in the field today. Abstract The advent of molecular targeted therapies has made a significant impact on survival of women with ovarian cancer who have defects in homologous recombination repair (HRR). High-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC) is the most common histological subtype of ovarian cancer, with over 50% displaying defective HRR. Poly ADP ribose polymerases (PARPs) are a family of enzymes that catalyse the transfer of ADP-ribose to target proteins, functioning in fundamental cellular processes including transcription, chromatin remodelling and DNA repair. In cells with deficient HRR, PARP inhibitors (PARPis) cause synthetic lethality leading to cell death. Despite the major advances that PARPis have heralded for women with ovarian cancer, questions and challenges remain, including: can the benefits of PARPis be brought to a wider range of women with ovarian cancer; can other drugs in clinical use function in a similar way or with greater efficacy than currently clinically approved PARPis; what can we learn from long-term responders to PARPis; can PARPis sensitise ovarian cancer cells to immunotherapy; and can synthetic lethal strategies be employed more broadly to develop new therapies for women with ovarian cancer. We examine these, and other, questions with focus on improving outcomes for women with ovarian cancer.
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Fanale D, Corsini LR, Brando C, Cutaia S, Di Donna MC, Filorizzo C, Lisanti MC, Randazzo U, Magrin L, Romano R, Bazan Russo TD, Olive D, Vieni S, Pantuso G, Chiantera V, Russo A, Bazan V, Iovanna JL. Can circulating PD-1, PD-L1, BTN3A1, pan-BTN3As, BTN2A1 and BTLA levels enhance prognostic power of CA125 in patients with advanced high-grade serous ovarian cancer? Front Oncol 2022; 12:946319. [PMID: 36212445 PMCID: PMC9532861 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2022.946319] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2022] [Accepted: 08/29/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The most common subtype of ovarian cancer (OC) is the high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma (HGSOC), accounting for 70%–80% of all OC deaths. Although HGSOC is a potentially immunogenic tumor, clinical studies assessing the effectiveness of inhibitors of programmed death protein and its ligand (PD-1/PD-L1) in OC patients so far showed only response rates <15%. However, recent studies revealed an interesting prognostic role of plasma PD-1/PD-L1 and other circulating immunoregulatory molecules, such as the B- and T-lymphocyte attenuator (BTLA), butyrophilin sub-family 3A/CD277 receptors (BTN3A), and butyrophilin sub-family 2 member A1 (BTN2A1), in several solid tumors. Since evidence showed the prognostic relevance of pretreatment serum CA125 levels in OC, the aim of our study was to investigate if soluble forms of inhibitory immune checkpoints can enhance prognostic power of CA125 in advanced HGSOC women. Using specific ELISA tests, we examined the circulating PD-1, PD-L1, pan-BTN3As, BTN3A1, BTN2A1, and BTLA levels in 100 advanced HGSOC patients before treatment, correlating them with baseline serum CA125, age at diagnosis, body mass index (BMI), and peritoneal carcinomatosis. A multivariate analysis revealed that plasma BTN3A1 ≤4.75 ng/ml (HR, 1.94; 95% CI, 1.23–3.07; p=0.004), age at diagnosis ≤60 years (HR, 1.65; 95% CI, 1.05–2.59; p=0.03) and absence of peritoneal carcinomatosis (HR, 2.65; 95% CI, 1.66–4.22; p<0.0001) were independent prognostic factors for a longer progression-free survival (PFS) (≥30 months) in advanced HGSOC women. However, further two-factor multivariate analyses highlighted that baseline serum CA125 levels >401 U/ml and each soluble protein above respective concentration cutoff were covariates associated with shorter PFS (<30 months) and unfavorable clinical outcome, suggesting that contemporary measurement of both biomarkers than CA125 only could strengthen prognostic power of serum CA125 in predicting PFS of advanced HGSOC women. Plasma PD-L1, PD-1, BTN3A1, pan-sBTN3As, BTN2A1, or BTLA levels could be helpful biomarkers to increase prognostic value of CA125.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniele Fanale
- Section of Medical Oncology, Department of Surgical, Oncological and Oral Sciences, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
| | - Lidia Rita Corsini
- Section of Medical Oncology, Department of Surgical, Oncological and Oral Sciences, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
| | - Chiara Brando
- Section of Medical Oncology, Department of Surgical, Oncological and Oral Sciences, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
| | - Sofia Cutaia
- Section of Medical Oncology, Department of Surgical, Oncological and Oral Sciences, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
| | | | - Clarissa Filorizzo
- Section of Medical Oncology, Department of Surgical, Oncological and Oral Sciences, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
| | - Maria Chiara Lisanti
- Section of Medical Oncology, Department of Surgical, Oncological and Oral Sciences, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
| | - Ugo Randazzo
- Section of Medical Oncology, Department of Surgical, Oncological and Oral Sciences, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
| | - Luigi Magrin
- Section of Medical Oncology, Department of Surgical, Oncological and Oral Sciences, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
| | - Raffaella Romano
- Department of Gynecologic Oncology, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
| | - Tancredi Didier Bazan Russo
- Section of Medical Oncology, Department of Surgical, Oncological and Oral Sciences, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
| | - Daniel Olive
- Team Immunity and Cancer, Centre de Recherche en Cancérologie de Marseille (CRCM), Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM) U1068, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique Unité Mixte de Recherche (CNRS UMR) 7258 Aix-Marseille Université and Institut Paoli-Calmettes, Marseille, France
| | - Salvatore Vieni
- Division of General and Oncological Surgery, Department of Surgical, Oncological and Oral Sciences, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
| | - Gianni Pantuso
- Division of General and Oncological Surgery, Department of Surgical, Oncological and Oral Sciences, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
| | - Vito Chiantera
- Department of Gynecologic Oncology, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
| | - Antonio Russo
- Section of Medical Oncology, Department of Surgical, Oncological and Oral Sciences, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
- *Correspondence: Viviana Bazan, ; Antonio Russo,
| | - Viviana Bazan
- Department of Biomedicine, Neuroscience and Advanced Diagnostics, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
- *Correspondence: Viviana Bazan, ; Antonio Russo,
| | - Juan Lucio Iovanna
- Centre de Recherche en Cancérologie de Marseille (CRCM), Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM) U1068, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique Unité Mixte de Recherche (CNRS UMR) 7258, Aix-Marseille Université and Institut Paoli-Calmettes, Parc Scientifique et Technologique de Luminy, Marseille, France
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Deshet-Unger N, Horn G, Rawet-Slobodkin M, Waks T, Laskov I, Michaan N, Raz Y, Bar V, Zundelevich A, Aharon S, Turovsky L, Mallel G, Salpeter S, Neev G, Hollander KS, Katz BZ, Grisaru D, Globerson Levin A. Comparing Intraperitoneal and Intravenous Personalized ErbB2CAR-T for the Treatment of Epithelial Ovarian Cancer. Biomedicines 2022; 10:biomedicines10092216. [PMID: 36140319 PMCID: PMC9496506 DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines10092216] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2022] [Revised: 08/25/2022] [Accepted: 08/30/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
High-grade serous ovarian carcinoma (HGSOC) is the most common type of epithelial ovarian cancer. The majority of cases are diagnosed at advanced stages, when intraperitoneal (IP) spread has already occurred. Despite significant surgical and chemotherapeutic advances in HGSOC treatment over the past decades, survival rates with HGSOC have only modestly improved. Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cells enable T cells to directly bind to tumor-associated antigens in a major histocompatibility complex-independent manner, thereby inducing tumor rejection. While CAR-T cell therapy shows great promise in hematological malignancies, its use in solid tumors is limited. Therefore, innovative approaches are needed to increase the specificity of CAR-modified T cells against solid tumors. The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy and safety of intraperitoneal (IP) versus intravenous (IV) CAR-T cell therapy in the treatment of HGSOC. We constructed a CAR that targets the ErbB2/HER2 protein (ErbB2CAR), which is overexpressed in HGSOC, and evaluated the functionality of ErbB2CAR on ovarian cancer cell lines (OVCAR8, SKOV3, and NAR). Our findings show that an IP injection of ErbB2CAR-T cells to tumor-bearing mice led to disease remission and increased survival compared to the IV route. Moreover, we found that IP-injected ErbB2CART cells circulate to a lesser extent, making them safer for non-tumor tissues than IV-injected cells. Further supporting our findings, we show that the effect of ErbB2CAR-T cells on primary HGSOC tumors is correlated with ErbB2 expression. Together, these data demonstrate the advantages of an IP administration of CAR-T cells over IV administration, offering not only a safer strategy but also the potential for counteracting the effect of ErbB2CAR in HGSOC. Significance: IP-injected ErbB2CAR-T cells led to disease remission and increased survival compared to the IV route. These findings demonstrate the advantages of IP administration, offering a safe treatment strategy with the potential for counteracting the effect of ErbB2CAR in HGSOC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Naamit Deshet-Unger
- Immunology and Advanced CAR-T Therapy, Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Tel-Aviv 6423906, Israel
| | - Galit Horn
- Immunology and Advanced CAR-T Therapy, Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Tel-Aviv 6423906, Israel
| | - Moran Rawet-Slobodkin
- Immunology and Advanced CAR-T Therapy, Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Tel-Aviv 6423906, Israel
| | - Tova Waks
- Immunology and Advanced CAR-T Therapy, Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Tel-Aviv 6423906, Israel
- Department of Immunology, The Weizmann Institute, Rehovot 7610001, Israel
| | - Ido Laskov
- Department of Gynecologic Oncology, Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Tel-Aviv 6423906, Israel
- Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv 6997801, Israel
| | - Nadav Michaan
- Department of Gynecologic Oncology, Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Tel-Aviv 6423906, Israel
- Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv 6997801, Israel
| | - Yael Raz
- Department of Gynecologic Oncology, Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Tel-Aviv 6423906, Israel
- Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv 6997801, Israel
| | - Vered Bar
- cResponce Company, Rehovot 7670102, Israel
| | | | | | | | | | | | - Guy Neev
- cResponce Company, Rehovot 7670102, Israel
| | - Kenneth Samuel Hollander
- Immunology and Advanced CAR-T Therapy, Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Tel-Aviv 6423906, Israel
| | - Ben-Zion Katz
- Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv 6997801, Israel
- The Hematology Laboratory, Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Tel-Aviv 6997801, Israel
| | - Dan Grisaru
- Department of Gynecologic Oncology, Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Tel-Aviv 6423906, Israel
- Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv 6997801, Israel
| | - Anat Globerson Levin
- Immunology and Advanced CAR-T Therapy, Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Tel-Aviv 6423906, Israel
- Dotan Center for Advanced Therapies, Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv 6423906, Israel
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +972-3-6972503
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Prognostic and Predictive Role of Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes (TILs) in Ovarian Cancer. Cancers (Basel) 2022; 14:cancers14184344. [PMID: 36139508 PMCID: PMC9497073 DOI: 10.3390/cancers14184344] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2022] [Revised: 09/02/2022] [Accepted: 09/02/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
In the last decade, tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) have been recognized as clinically relevant prognostic markers for improved survival, providing the immunological basis for the development of new therapeutic strategies and showing a significant prognostic and predictive role in several malignancies, including ovarian cancer (OC). In fact, many OCs show TILs whose typology and degree of infiltration have been shown to be strongly correlated with prognosis and survival. The OC histological subtype with the higher presence of TILs is the high-grade serous carcinoma (HGSC) followed by the endometrioid subtype, whereas mucinous and clear cell OCs seem to contain a lower percentage of TILs. The abundant presence of TILs in OC suggests an immunogenic potential for this tumor. Despite the high immunogenic potential, OC has been described as a highly immunosuppressive tumor with a high expression of PD1 by TILs. Although further studies are needed to better define their role in prognostic stratification and the therapeutic implication, intraepithelial TILs represent a relevant prognostic factor to take into account in OC. In this review, we will discuss the promising role of TILs as markers which are able to reflect the anticancer immune response, describing their potential capability to predict prognosis and therapy response in OC.
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Sokač M, Ahrenfeldt J, Litchfield K, Watkins TBK, Knudsen M, Dyrskjøt L, Jakobsen MR, Birkbak NJ. Classifying cGAS-STING Activity Links Chromosomal Instability with Immunotherapy Response in Metastatic Bladder Cancer. CANCER RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS 2022; 2:762-771. [PMID: 36923311 PMCID: PMC10010288 DOI: 10.1158/2767-9764.crc-22-0047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2022] [Revised: 04/20/2022] [Accepted: 07/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
The cGAS-STING pathway serves a critical role in anticancer therapy. Particularly, response to immunotherapy is likely driven by both active cGAS-STING signaling that attracts immune cells, and by the presence of cancer neoantigens that presents as targets for cytotoxic T cells. Chromosomal instability (CIN) is a hallmark of cancer, but also leads to an accumulation of cytosolic DNA that in turn results in increased cGAS-STING signaling. To avoid triggering the cGAS-STING pathway, it is commonly disrupted by cancer cells, either through mutations in the pathway or through transcriptional silencing. Given its effect on the immune system, determining the cGAS-STING activation status prior to treatment initiation is likely of clinical relevance. Here, we used combined expression data from 2,307 tumors from five cancer types from The Cancer Genome Atlas to define a novel cGAS-STING activity score based on eight genes with a known role in the pathway. Using unsupervised clustering, four distinct categories of cGAS-STING activation were identified. In multivariate models, the cGAS-STING active tumors show improved prognosis. Importantly, in an independent bladder cancer immunotherapy-treated cohort, patients with low cGAS-STING expression showed limited response to treatment, while patients with high expression showed improved response and prognosis, particularly among patients with high CIN and more neoantigens. In a multivariate model, a significant interaction was observed between CIN, neoantigens, and cGAS-STING activation. Together, this suggests a potential role of cGAS-STING activity as a predictive biomarker for the application of immunotherapy. Significance The cGAS-STING pathway is induced by CIN, triggers inflammation and is often deficient in cancer. We provide a tool to evaluate cGAS-STING activity and demonstrate clinical significance in immunotherapy response.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mateo Sokač
- Department of Molecular Medicine, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark
- Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
- Bioinformatics Research Center, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Johanne Ahrenfeldt
- Department of Molecular Medicine, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark
- Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
- Bioinformatics Research Center, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Kevin Litchfield
- Tumour Immunogenomics and Immunosurveillance Laboratory, University College London Cancer Institute, London, United Kingdom
| | - Thomas B K Watkins
- Cancer Evolution and Genome Instability Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, London, United Kingdom
| | - Michael Knudsen
- Department of Molecular Medicine, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Lars Dyrskjøt
- Department of Molecular Medicine, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark
- Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | | | - Nicolai J Birkbak
- Department of Molecular Medicine, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark
- Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
- Bioinformatics Research Center, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
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31
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Zhang J, Li Y, Zou J, Lai CT, Zeng T, Peng J, Zou WD, Cao B, Liu D, Zhu LY, Li H, Li YK. Comprehensive analysis of the glutathione S-transferase Mu (GSTM) gene family in ovarian cancer identifies prognostic and expression significance. Front Oncol 2022; 12:968547. [PMID: 35965498 PMCID: PMC9366399 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2022.968547] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2022] [Accepted: 07/04/2022] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Ovarian cancer (OC) is one of the most common types of gynecologic tumor over the world. The Glutathione S-transferase Mu (GSTM) has five members, including GSTM1-5. These GSTMs is involved in cell metabolism and detoxification, but their role in OC remains unknown. Methods Data from multiple public databases associated with OC and GSTMs were collected. Expression, prognosis, function enrichment, immune infiltration, stemness index, and drug sensitivity analysis was utilized to identify the roles of GSTMs in OC progression. RT-qPCR analysis confirmed the effect of AICAR, AT-7519, PHA-793887 and PI-103 on the mRNA levels of GSTM3/4. Results GSTM1-5 were decreased in OC samples compared to normal ovary samples. GSTM1/5 were positively correlated with OC prognosis, but GSTM3 was negatively correlated with OC prognosis. Function enrichment analysis indicated GSTMs were involved in glutathione metabolism, drug metabolism, and drug resistance. Immune infiltration analysis indicated GSTM2/3/4 promoted immune escape in OC. GSTM5 was significantly correlated with OC stemness index. GSTM3/4 were remarkedly associated with OC chemoresistance, especially in AICAR, AT-7519, PHA-793887 and PI-103. Conclusion GSTM3 was negatively correlated with OC prognosis, and associated with OC chemoresistance and immune escape. This gene may serve as potential prognostic biomarkers and therapeutic target for OC patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juan Zhang
- Department of Assisted Reproductive Centre, Zhuzhou central hospital, Xiangya hospital Zhuzhou central south university, Central south university, Zhuzhou, China
| | - Yan Li
- Department of Assisted Reproductive Centre, Zhuzhou central hospital, Xiangya hospital Zhuzhou central south university, Central south university, Zhuzhou, China
| | - Juan Zou
- Hunan Province Key Laboratory of Tumor Cellular and Molecular Pathology, Cancer Research Institute, University of South China, Hengyang, China
| | - Chun-tian Lai
- Department of Assisted Reproductive Centre, Zhuzhou central hospital, Xiangya hospital Zhuzhou central south university, Central south university, Zhuzhou, China
| | - Tian Zeng
- Hunan Province Key Laboratory of Tumor Cellular and Molecular Pathology, Cancer Research Institute, University of South China, Hengyang, China
| | - Juan Peng
- Department of Assisted Reproductive Centre, Zhuzhou central hospital, Xiangya hospital Zhuzhou central south university, Central south university, Zhuzhou, China
| | - Wen-da Zou
- Department of Assisted Reproductive Centre, Zhuzhou central hospital, Xiangya hospital Zhuzhou central south university, Central south university, Zhuzhou, China
| | - Bei Cao
- Department of Assisted Reproductive Centre, Zhuzhou central hospital, Xiangya hospital Zhuzhou central south university, Central south university, Zhuzhou, China
| | - Dan Liu
- Department of Assisted Reproductive Centre, Zhuzhou central hospital, Xiangya hospital Zhuzhou central south university, Central south university, Zhuzhou, China
| | - Li-yu Zhu
- Department of Assisted Reproductive Centre, Zhuzhou central hospital, Xiangya hospital Zhuzhou central south university, Central south university, Zhuzhou, China
| | - Hui Li
- Department of Assisted Reproductive Centre, Zhuzhou central hospital, Xiangya hospital Zhuzhou central south university, Central south university, Zhuzhou, China
- *Correspondence: Hui Li, ; Yu-kun Li,
| | - Yu-kun Li
- Department of Assisted Reproductive Centre, Zhuzhou central hospital, Xiangya hospital Zhuzhou central south university, Central south university, Zhuzhou, China
- Hunan Province Key Laboratory of Tumor Cellular and Molecular Pathology, Cancer Research Institute, University of South China, Hengyang, China
- *Correspondence: Hui Li, ; Yu-kun Li,
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Musacchio L, Cicala CM, Camarda F, Ghizzoni V, Giudice E, Carbone MV, Ricci C, Perri MT, Tronconi F, Gentile M, Salutari V, Scambia G, Lorusso D. Combining PARP inhibition and immune checkpoint blockade in ovarian cancer patients: a new perspective on the horizon? ESMO Open 2022; 7:100536. [PMID: 35849879 PMCID: PMC9294238 DOI: 10.1016/j.esmoop.2022.100536] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2022] [Revised: 05/17/2022] [Accepted: 06/14/2022] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have completely reshaped the treatment of many malignancies, with remarkable improvements in survival outcomes. In ovarian cancer (OC), however, this emerging class of drugs has not yet found a favorable use due to results from phase I and II studies, which have not suggested a substantial antitumoral activity of these agents when administered as monotherapy. Robust preclinical data seem to suggest that the combination ICIs with poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors (PARPis) may result in a synergistic activity; furthermore, data from phase II clinical studies, evaluating this combination, have shown encouraging outcomes especially for those OC patients not suitable for platinum retreatment. While waiting for ongoing phase III clinical trial results, which will clarify the role of ICIs in combination with PARPis in the newly diagnosed OC, this review aims to summarize the preclinical data and clinical evidence available to date. Preclinical data indicate that PARPis exhibit immune modulating properties. The combination of PARPi with ICIs displays significant synergistic activity in preclinical models. Phase I and II clinical trials showed encouraging results for this combination, especially in platinum-resistant OC. Four ongoing phase III trials exploring the combination in first-line setting will delineate the role of immunotherapy in OC.
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Affiliation(s)
- L Musacchio
- Department of Women and Child Health, Division of Gynecologic Oncology, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Rome, Italy. https://twitter.com/lucia_musacchio
| | - C M Cicala
- Department of Medical and Surgical Science, Medical Oncology Unit, Comprehensive Cancer Center, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Rome, Italy. https://twitter.com/carlomcicala
| | - F Camarda
- Department of Medical and Surgical Science, Medical Oncology Unit, Comprehensive Cancer Center, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Rome, Italy. https://twitter.com/florianacamarda
| | - V Ghizzoni
- Department of Women and Child Health, Division of Gynecologic Oncology, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Rome, Italy
| | - E Giudice
- Department of Women and Child Health, Division of Gynecologic Oncology, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Rome, Italy
| | - M V Carbone
- Department of Women and Child Health, Division of Gynecologic Oncology, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Rome, Italy
| | - C Ricci
- Department of Women and Child Health, Division of Gynecologic Oncology, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Rome, Italy
| | - M T Perri
- Department of Women and Child Health, Division of Gynecologic Oncology, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Rome, Italy
| | - F Tronconi
- Medical Oncology Unit, Marche Polytechnic University, Ancona, Italy
| | - M Gentile
- Department of Biomedical Sciences and Human Oncology, University of Bari, Bari, Italy
| | - V Salutari
- Department of Women and Child Health, Division of Gynecologic Oncology, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Rome, Italy
| | - G Scambia
- Department of Women and Child Health, Division of Gynecologic Oncology, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Rome, Italy; Department of Life Science and Public Health, Catholic University of Sacred Heart Largo Agostino Gemelli, Rome, Italy
| | - D Lorusso
- Department of Women and Child Health, Division of Gynecologic Oncology, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Rome, Italy; Department of Life Science and Public Health, Catholic University of Sacred Heart Largo Agostino Gemelli, Rome, Italy.
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Schweer D, McAtee A, Neupane K, Richards C, Ueland F, Kolesar J. Tumor-Associated Macrophages and Ovarian Cancer: Implications for Therapy. Cancers (Basel) 2022; 14:2220. [PMID: 35565348 PMCID: PMC9101750 DOI: 10.3390/cancers14092220] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2022] [Revised: 04/21/2022] [Accepted: 04/26/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
The tumor microenvironment (TME) has been implicated to play an important role in the progression of ovarian cancer. One of the most important components of the TME is tumor associated macrophages (TAMs). Phenotypically, macrophages are broadly categorized as M1 pro-inflammatory or M2 anti-inflammatory, based on the cytokines and chemokines that they secrete. The tumor microenvironment is associated with macrophages of an M2 phenotype which suppress the surrounding immune environment, assist tumor cells in evading immune targeting, and support tumor growth and metastasis. Contrarily, M1 macrophages help mount an immune response against tumors, and are associated with a more favorable prognosis in solid tumors. One of the characteristic indicators of a poor prognosis in ovarian cancer is the overrepresentation of M2-type TAMs. As such, therapeutic modalities targeting TME and TAMs are of increasing interest. Pharmacological approaches to eliminate TAMs, include decreasing macrophage survival and recruitment and increasing phagocytosis, have been underwhelming. Clinical strategies targeting these macrophage subtypes via repolarization to an M1 antitumoral state deserve increasing attention, and may serve as a new modality for immunotherapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Schweer
- Markey Cancer Center, Division of Gynecologic Oncology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40536, USA; (D.S.); (F.U.)
| | - Annabel McAtee
- School of Medicine, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40536, USA;
| | - Khaga Neupane
- Department of Chemistry, College of Arts and Sciences, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40536, USA; (K.N.); (C.R.)
| | - Christopher Richards
- Department of Chemistry, College of Arts and Sciences, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40536, USA; (K.N.); (C.R.)
| | - Frederick Ueland
- Markey Cancer Center, Division of Gynecologic Oncology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40536, USA; (D.S.); (F.U.)
| | - Jill Kolesar
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40202, USA
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Feng S, Xia T, Ge Y, Zhang K, Ji X, Luo S, Shen Y. Computed Tomography Imaging-Based Radiogenomics Analysis Reveals Hypoxia Patterns and Immunological Characteristics in Ovarian Cancer. Front Immunol 2022; 13:868067. [PMID: 35418998 PMCID: PMC8995567 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.868067] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2022] [Accepted: 02/28/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Purpose The hypoxic microenvironment is involved in the tumorigenesis of ovarian cancer (OC). Therefore, we aim to develop a non-invasive radiogenomics approach to identify a hypoxia pattern with potential application in patient prognostication. Methods Specific hypoxia-related genes (sHRGs) were identified based on RNA-seq of OC cell lines cultured with different oxygen conditions. Meanwhile, multiple hypoxia-related subtypes were identified by unsupervised consensus analysis and LASSO–Cox regression analysis. Subsequently, diversified bioinformatics algorithms were used to explore the immune microenvironment, prognosis, biological pathway alteration, and drug sensitivity among different subtypes. Finally, optimal radiogenomics biomarkers for predicting the risk status of patients were developed by machine learning algorithms. Results One hundred forty sHRGs and three types of hypoxia-related subtypes were identified. Among them, hypoxia-cluster-B, gene-cluster-B, and high-risk subtypes had poor survival outcomes. The subtypes were closely related to each other, and hypoxia-cluster-B and gene-cluster-B had higher hypoxia risk scores. Notably, the low-risk subtype had an active immune microenvironment and may benefit from immunotherapy. Finally, a four-feature radiogenomics model was constructed to reveal hypoxia risk status, and the model achieved area under the curve (AUC) values of 0.900 and 0.703 for the training and testing cohorts, respectively. Conclusion As a non-invasive approach, computed tomography-based radiogenomics biomarkers may enable the pretreatment prediction of the hypoxia pattern, prognosis, therapeutic effect, and immune microenvironment in patients with OC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Songwei Feng
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Zhongda Hospital, School of Medicine, Southeast University, Nanjing, China
| | - Tianyi Xia
- Department of Radiology, Zhongda Hospital, School of Medicine, Southeast University, Nanjing, China
| | - Yu Ge
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Zhongda Hospital, School of Medicine, Southeast University, Nanjing, China
| | - Ke Zhang
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Zhongda Hospital, School of Medicine, Southeast University, Nanjing, China
| | - Xuan Ji
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Zhongda Hospital, School of Medicine, Southeast University, Nanjing, China
| | - Shanhui Luo
- Department of Gynaecology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Soochow University, Suzhou, China
| | - Yang Shen
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Zhongda Hospital, School of Medicine, Southeast University, Nanjing, China
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Song XC, Wang YX, Yu M, Cao DY, Yang JX. Case Report: Management of Recurrent Ovarian Squamous Cell Carcinoma With PD-1 Inhibitor. Front Oncol 2022; 12:789228. [PMID: 35356229 PMCID: PMC8959438 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2022.789228] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2021] [Accepted: 02/09/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Malignant transformations, such as ovarian squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) in ovarian mature cystic teratoma (OMCT), are rare tumors. The management of recurrent disease is still a challenge, and the gene mutations involved remain unclear. We herein report a recurrent case of ovarian SCC with a PIK3CA gene variation and immunohistochemical staining of programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) >10%. This patient achieved clinical remission after platinum-based effective chemotherapy and programmed death 1 (PD-1) immunotherapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiao-Chen Song
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, National Clinical Research Center for Obstetrics & Gynecologic Diseases, Beijing, China
| | - Yong-Xue Wang
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, National Clinical Research Center for Obstetrics & Gynecologic Diseases, Beijing, China
| | - Mei Yu
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, National Clinical Research Center for Obstetrics & Gynecologic Diseases, Beijing, China
| | - Dong-Yan Cao
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, National Clinical Research Center for Obstetrics & Gynecologic Diseases, Beijing, China
| | - Jia-Xin Yang
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, National Clinical Research Center for Obstetrics & Gynecologic Diseases, Beijing, China
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